Task.Factory.StartNew not executing the task when deployed

I have some code here that works as expected when I install it / run it on my own computer, Windows 7, but when I run it on other servers (2003 and 2008) it does not. The code is from a .NET4 WCF Service Library that I use in a Windows service. Here it is, simpllified.

public void monitorQueueAndDoStuff() {
  MonitorRetryQueue();
  MonitorMainQueue();                
}

private void MonitorMainQueue() {
  Log.Info("MonitorMainQueue called");
  Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
  {
    Log.Info("new thread monitoring queue");
    // ...NMS stuff

        while (!stopped) {
          ITextMessage mess = null;
            mess = blockingMessageCollection.Take();
            sendToQueue(mess);
        }
      }
    }
  });
}


private void MonitorRetryQueue() {
  Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
  {
    //...NMS stuff
        consumer.Listener += new MessageListener(OnRetryErrorMessage);
        Log.Info("new thread monitoring second queue");

        //need to be constantly up for the consumer to hang around
        while (!stopped) {
          Thread.Sleep(1000);
        }
      }
    }
      });
}

The threads should enter loops to do some work. The main one blocks on a BlockingCollection. Now, it creates both tasks but it only enters the second, it never prints "new thread monitoring queue" in the log. I cannot grasp why not. I tried Remote Debugging but as it never enters the code I couldn't see anything of value.

I haven't found anything that would change the behavior of the code on the deployed server. Anyone here might have a clue? Any settings in the Visual Studio project?